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Paul McStay

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Paul McStay
MBE
Personal information
Full name Paul Michael Lyons McStay[1]
Date of birth (1964-10-22) 22 October 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth Hamilton, Scotland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Celtic Boys Club
1981–1982 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1997 Celtic 515 (57)
International career
1978–1980 Scotland U16 16 (5)
1980–1982 Scotland U18 14 (5)
1982–1984[3] Scotland U21 5 (1)
1983–1984 Scotland U20 7 (3)
1983–1997 Scotland 76 (9)
1990[4] SFA (SFL centenary) 1 (0)
Medal record
 Scotland
UEFA European U-18 Championship
Winner 1982 Finland Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paul Michael Lyons McStay, MBE (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer who spent his entire career with Celtic, making his senior debut in 1982 and retiring in 1997. He captained both Scotland and Celtic at all age levels. He was capped 76 times for his country and scored nine goals. He helped Celtic win three league titles, the last in 1988.

Club career

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As a youth, McStay first came to prominence in June 1980 in a schoolboy international match when Scotland played England at Wembley. Then 15, McStay captained the Scotland team, scored two goals and was awarded Man of the Match after Scotland ran out 5–4 winners.[5][6]

McStay signed for Celtic aged sixteen from Celtic Boys Club in 1981. He made his first team debut on 23 January 1982 in a 4–0 win over Queen of the South in the Scottish Cup. A week later on 30 January, he made his first league appearance in 3–1 win over Aberdeen at Pittodrie. He scored the third goal, taking a pass from George McCluskey, running through the Aberdeen defence and striking a left foot shot past Jim Leighton in goal.[5]

Season 1982–83 saw the young midfielder establish himself as a first team regular,[5] and he picked up his first winners medal on 4 November 1982 in Celtic's 2–1 win over Rangers in the League Cup Final. His performances resulted in media speculation that Inter Milan were considering making a £2 million bid to take him to Italy, a rumour that was emphatically dismissed by the Celtic chairman, Desmond White.[7]

McStay continued to progress at Celtic,[5] and he scored Celtic's equaliser in the 1984 Scottish Cup Final against Aberdeen to take the match into extra time. However, Celtic had played most of the match with 10 men after Roy Aitken was sent off in the first half, and Aberdeen scored in extra time to win 2–1.

In December 1987, during Celtic's centenary season, McStay signed a five-year contract at Celtic. He went on to enjoy his finest season,[6] winning both the SPFA and Scottish Football Writers player of the year awards as the club won a League and Cup double in 1988.[5]

When Roy Aitken left Celtic Park in 1990, McStay was appointed club captain, a position he retained until his retirement following the 1996–97 season. In his time with the club, Celtic won the League title three times, the Scottish Cup four times and the League Cup once. Although the second half of McStay's career coincided with a time when Celtic performed poorly and struggled financially, in 2002 he was voted a member of Celtic's greatest ever team by the club's fans. He is also a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame, which honours the best players to play in Scotland and is located in the Scottish Football Museum.[8]

International career

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In 1982 he captained Scotland national U19 team to victory in the UEFA European Under-18 Championship, the only major trophy won by any Scotland national team. He captained each of the Scotland teams from under-16 level through under-18, under-20, under-21 and senior level. McStay made his full international debut for Scotland in 1983. He represented Scotland 76 times, including appearances at two World Cups in 1986 and 1990, during a 14-year international career. McStay was also selected for two UEFA European Championships in 1992 and 1996, but withdrew from the latter because of an ankle injury.[9]

Personal life

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In 2010, McStay moved to live in Sydney, Australia with his wife Anne Marie and their six children.[10] He now runs Maestro Sports, a startup software company specialising in sport coaching and management.[10][11] McStay attempted to raise $100,000 AUD to fund an autobiography through the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter.[12][13]

McStay's great-uncles Jimmy and Willie McStay were former Celtic captains, and his brothers Willie and Raymond also played for Celtic. Their father John worked as a scout for the club.[14]

One of his sons, Chris, has played football for Sutherland Sharks and Rockdale Ilinden in Australia and for Clyde in Scotland.[15][16] His nephew John (Willie's son) played with Celtic Boys Club before moving onto Motherwell under-19s and later played for Ayr United as a defender[17][18] before becoming a Celtic academy coach.[19]

His cousin Jock McStay played for Raith Rovers during the 1990s,[20] and Jock's son Jonny played at Junior level in the 2010s.[21][22]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic[23] 1981–82 Scottish Premier
Division 		10 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 12 1
1982–83 36 6 4 0 9 1 4[a] 0 53 7
1983–84 34 3 5 2 8 2 6[b] 0 53 7
1984–85 32 4 7 3 2 0 5[c] 1 46 8
1985–86 34 8 2 0 2 1 2[c] 0 40 9
1986–87 43 3 4 0 5 1 4[a] 0 56 4
1987–88 44 5 6 0 2 0 2[b] 0 54 5
1988–89 33 5 5 0 3 0 4[a] 0 45 5
1989–90 35 3 6 1 4 1 2[c] 0 47 5
1990–91 30 2 5 0 5 1 – 40 3
1991–92 32 7 4 0 0 0 2[b] 0 38 7
1992–93 43 4 3 0 3 0 4[b] 1 53 5
1993–94 35 2 1 0 4 0 4[b] 0 44 2
1994–95 29 1 4 0 5 0 – 38 1
1995–96 30 2 4 0 1 0 3[c] 0 38 2
1996–97 15 1 4 0 1 0 1[d] 0 21 1
Career total 515 57 66 6 54 7 43 2 678 72
  1. ^ a b c Appearances in European Cup
  2. ^ a b c d e Appearances in UEFA Cup
  3. ^ a b c d Appearances in European Cup Winners' Cup
  4. ^ Appearance in UEFA Champions League

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland[24] 1983 4 0
1984 5 2
1985 4 0
1986 5 1
1987 8 2
1988 7 1
1989 8 0
1990 9 0
1991 3 1
1992 10 2
1993 5 0
1994 3 0
1995 1 0
1996 1 0
1997 3 0
Total 76 9
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McStay goal.
List of international goals scored by Paul McStay
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 October 1984 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Iceland 1–0 3–0 1986 World Cup qualification
2 2–0
3 28 January 1986 National Stadium, Ramat Gan  Israel 1–0 1–0 Friendly
4 1 April 1987 Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels  Belgium 1–1 1–4 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
5 14 October 1987 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Belgium 2–0 2–0 UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
6 14 September 1988 Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo  Norway 1–0 2–1 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
7 13 November 1991 Hampden Park, Glasgow  San Marino 1–0 4–0 UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
8 25 March 1992 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Finland 1–0 1–1 Friendly
9 18 June 1992 Idrottsparken, Norrköping  CIS 1–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1992

Honours

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Celtic

Scotland

Scotland U18

Scotland U16

Individual

See also

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References

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  1. ^ A Record of Post-war Scottish League Players 1946/47 to 2017/18. 7. John Litster and Scottish Football Historian magazine. 2018.
  2. ^ Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Paul McStay (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  3. ^ Scotland U21 player Paul McStay, FitbaStats
  4. ^ On this day, back in 1990, a Scottish League XI beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park in the SFL Centenary match with the goal coming from then Aberdeen Football Club star Hans Gillhaus, Scottish Professional Football League via Facebook, 18 August 2016
  5. ^ a b c d e "The Bhoy in the Picture – Paul McStay". The Celtic Underground. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  6. ^ a b Gallagher, Hugh (18 March 2015). "Celtic's one club men, No.4 – Paul McStay". CQN Magazine. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  7. ^ Young, Chick (18 January 1984). "Paul must stay". Evening Times. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  8. ^ "Scottish Football Hall of Fame – 2010 Inductees". Archived from the original on 30 November 2010.
  9. ^ "Scotland's squad for Euro '96 all in US". Irish Times. 30 May 1996. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
    "May 1996". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  10. ^ a b Macpherson, Graeme (5 September 2014). "It's all about the greats". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  11. ^ "About Us | Maestro – Maestro". Maestrosports.com.au. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Paul McStay to self-publish his autobiography The Maestro". Glasgow Evening Times. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  13. ^ ""The Maestro" Paul McStay Autobiography". Kicktraq. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  14. ^ Tributes to Celtic scout and true gent John McStay, Evening Times, 10 July 2017
  15. ^ "New Signing: Chris McStay". Clyde FC. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  16. ^ Sons of Celtic legends Paul McStay and Peter Grant on handling the pressure and building their own careers at Clyde, Daily Record, 22 February 2018
  17. ^ David W Potter, "And they gave us James McGrory and Paul McStay" Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 21 June 2007.
  18. ^ Ayr United land defender McStay, BBC Sport, 16 January 2007
  19. ^ Academy Coaches, Celtic FC
  20. ^ Pattullo, Alan (7 November 2015). "From infamy to Hall of Fame, Jock McStay finds peace". The Scotsman. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  21. ^ Glenafton 2 Lesmahagow 1, Glenafton Athletic FC, 12 January 2019
  22. ^ We're lovin it as Jonny decides on McKenna Park, St Anthony's F.C., 28 June 2019
  23. ^ a b c d Celtic player Paul McStay, FitbaStats
  24. ^ Paul McStay at National-Football-Teams.com
  25. ^ Paul, Ian (14 May 1982). "Glasgow Cup for Celtic". Glasgow Herald. p. 17. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  26. ^ "New Addition: Stanley Rous Cup-Part 1 (1985)". Soccer Nostalgia. 7 November 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  27. ^ "England's day, as Scots pay for slip-ups". Glasgow Herald. 24 April 1986. p. 26. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
    "Rous Cup 1989". Scotland Football Stats. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  28. ^ a b "1980: England 4 v 5 Scotland, Schoolboys". Football Experience. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
    "Benchman: When Scotland won at Wembley 5-4". Falkirk Herald. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  29. ^ "Player of the Year". SDWA. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Famous Five reunited in Hall of Fame". The Scotsman. 14 November 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  31. ^ "European Footballer of the Year (Ballon d'Or) 1984". RSSSF. 26 March 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
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